20 December 2016

This charming illustration of a horse pulling a small band of musicians on skis comes from a vintage Swiss postcard.

It was posted on 6 January 1938 and addressedto Herrn Joh. Jos. Zihlmannof Willisau, a small town in the Lucerne canton, of Switzerland.Herrn Zihlmann lived at the landwirtschaftsschulewhich was a vocational school for agricultural occupations.

Got your card with pleasure. I am always funny and jolly. I would be happy on 3rd Nov. when the 2nd course occurred but time did not allow me. Hopefully you always livehealthy and happy. I wish you Good luck in the new year.Alois Wechsler

{My thanks for any offers of better translations of Schweizerdeutsch}

The horse pictured on the cardlooks to be stout enough to pull three musical skierseven while carrying a trumpeter.

But horses come in different sizes and even small ones can trot pretty fast through the snow.Here is a thrilling video of a sport known as skijoring,that demonstrates what it's like to ski behind smaller, but still very enthusiastic horses.However the two skiers are not playing an accordionat the same time.

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And for a special Swiss treat,though without skis, here is a video from August 2013when 508 alphorn players assembled on the Gornergrat ridge to break the world record for the largest alphorn group performance.

The artist's intention may have been jolly,but this formidable snowmanseems chilling to me,and not in a cold way.His icy grin conveys foreboding,dread, even menace.

And why the man in the lower corner
is cavorting with a sheep
must remain a mystery.

This postcard was sent from
Wien, Austria on 31 XII 1915.
It was the second winter of the Great War.

The writer, Theresia Božek, addressed it
to Wohlgeb. Frau Mize Zpiser(?)
of Bielitz, Schlesien,
a town which was then in Austria
but is now known as Bielsko, Poland.
The honorific stands for Wohlgeboren - Well born.
Which I believe is a mark of minor royalty or upper class.

The stamp on the postcard is of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I (1830-1916). The postmark date shows 31 XII 1(5) with another penciled date of 2/I.1916. The old Kaiser would not see another new year as he died on November 21, 1916 at the age of 86. Throughout his long reign, Franz Joseph remained a mostly aloof but benevolent figure to the people of his vast empire. Nonetheless his decision to seek retribution from Serbia for the assassination of his nephew Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the spark that started the Great War of 1914-18.

Physically he was hardly a menacing figure. But when his visage was chiseled into white marble, his bald pate, big ears, and bristly muttonchops do make him resemble a snowman. A snowman with medals instead of lumps of coal.

For something more cheerful, watch this exceptional restored silent film which is accompanied by spirited march music. It begins with Kaiser Franz Joseph walking down a street with an entourage of men, all dressed in wonderful uniforms. Note the variety of hat feathers and plumes. In the middle is a charming group of schoolgirls doing a kind of precision march/dance, and I think they are also singing. Then the Kaiser reviews some cadets and rides in a carriage. There is a brass band at about 3:00. I believe the film was taken in 1910, a few years before the war, on the occasion former President Theodore Roosevelt's tour of Europe. However, the president is not in the film.

It looks better when expanded to full screen.

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This is my contribution to Sepia Saturdaywhere Snowwomen always get equal time.

About This

This is a web gallery of antique photographs of musicians. Most are of people whose names are now lost in time but they represent the many kinds of players, instruments, and ensembles that once defined musical culture.But these photographs also capture a moment in the history of people and places, so I write about that too.

All the photos shown here are in my personal collection.

For Best EffectClick on the Imagesfor a Larger View

For information on my music for horn - go to the bottom of this column.